Former health minister Yoichi Masuzoe, entering the Feb. 9 Tokyo gubernatorial election, says he welcomes all challengers, including ex-Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa.

Keidanren announced Tuesday it will appoint Toray Industries Inc. Chairman Sadayuki Sakakibara as the next chief of the nation's most influential business lobby to accelerate the country's economic revival led by the private sector as a leader from a manufacturing company. Sakakibara, who will take ...

Building contractors are increasingly looking to foreign workers to cover labor shortages plaguing the industry amid the reconstruction demand to rebuild the Tohoku region from the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster and ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Traditionally, many general contractors and subcontractors were reluctant to ...

Advances in computer graphics and scientific studies have made dinosaurs attractive not just to small boys but also women and girls. "It seems nowadays that one of every five children interested in dinosaurs is a girl," said a representative for the National Museum of Nature ...

"Have the pandas gone back to China already?" a young schoolgirl asked last spring at Yagiyama Zoological Park in tsunami-hit Sendai. Zookeeper Toshikazu Abe was at a loss for words. Indeed, Japanese and Chinese leaders had agreed in December 2011 for China to lease two giant ...

One of my favorite winter pastimes growing up was to snuggle under the futon covering a kotatsu (heated table), doing my homework or watching TV, as I methodically worked my way through a big bowl of Satsuma mikan, the little oval-shaped oranges that are ...

Shibuya is not a neighborhood where you head for haute cuisine. But all that window-shopping, people-watching, hanging out and having fun can be hungry work. So it's good to have a few places up your sleeve that offer sustenance and respite from the crowds ...

Tokyo's smattering of Latin bars and restaurants offer a change of pace (literally) from the usual drinking spot, with booming Latin music and sometimes even salsa dancing. One of the best spots to enjoy Latin culture in Tokyo is Paraiso in Roppongi (B1F, 7-10-3 Roppongi, ...

In Japan, it's not winter without oden. Some people find it hard to get excited about the idea — and the redolent reality — of kamaboko fish cake, hard-boiled eggs or chunks of daikon simmered interminably in murky baths of odoriferous dashi stock. But ...

Taiwan to Shikoku Taiwan's biggest airline, China Airlines, will increase the number of flights between Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture and Taoyuan Airport beginning with its summer schedule, which starts March 30. Since last March, it has been the only airline connecting Shikoku with Taiwan. Currently, flights ...

Though they hail from the same Montreal music scene that spawned crossover electronica star Grimes, the members of Blue Hawaii don't have any illusions about where they rank in the popularity stakes. "I come home for Christmas, and my family's like, 'Woah, you're going to ...

K-pop's golden days in Japan are over. The time when Korean groups could top the Oricon charts and (more importantly) monopolize media coverage is now a memory, in part due to an oversaturation of new acts. K-pop remains a strong niche market, though, even ...

Time will tell whether "Veil" sounds good come warmer months, but right now it's the perfect album for winter. Tokyo artist Metoronori's third full-length album appeared online in the middle of last week, when the wind blew especially cold. With the heat cranked up ...

J. League first-division side Cerezo Osaka appears likely to acquire Uruguay international Diego Forlan for the 2014 season, an informed source said Tuesday. The 34-year-old Forlan won the Golden Ball Award as the most valuable player at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where ...

Ozeki Kisenosato took a big step forward in his second bid at yokozuna promotion with a manhandling of Chiyotairyu to remain one off the pace at the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament on Tuesday. Yokozuna Hakuho, meanwhile, remained in destruction mode as he dispensed with ...